Meeting in Tokyo in 1995, Tetuzi Akiyama, Michael Hartman, and Toshimaru Nakamura have shared the stage in various configurations and ad hoc groups across Tokyo and Chicago over the past 29 years. This upcoming 8-date Midwest tour marks their debut outing as a trio. Their last reunion, in Tokyo during the summer of 2023, delivered a high-energy performance, improvisation perhaps more influenced by rock and noise music than jazz. Each artist brings a rich history of collaborations within the experimental music community, promising a tour that will delight fans of improvised music.
Tetuzi Akiyama - Guitar
Michael Hartman - Drums
Toshimaru Nakamura - No-input Mixing Board
With Special Guest Todd A. Carter - Electronics
DOORS 8 / SHOW 9
$10/PWYC
21+
Toshimaru Nakamura
http://www.toshimarunakamura.com
Toshimaru Nakamura's instrument is the no-input mixing board, which describes a way of using a standard mixing board as an electronic music instrument, producing sound without any external audio input. The use of the mixing board in this manner is not only innovative in the the sounds it can create but, more importantly, in the approach this method of working with the mixer demands. The unpredictability of the instrument requires an attitude of obedience and resignation to the system and the sounds it produces, bringing a high level of indeterminacy and surprise to the music. Nakamura pioneered this approach to the use of the mixing board in the mid-1990's and has since then appeared on over one hundred audio publications, including nine solo CD's.
He has performed throughout Europe, North America, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia, performing and recording both as a soloist and in collaboration with numerous other musicians.
As an active organizer of concerts in Tokyo, Nakamura has helped many musicians coming to Japan find places to perform, both with himself and with others. From 1998 to 2003 Nakamura and Tetuzi Akiyama ran the concert series Improvisation Series at Bar Aoyama and then later the Meeting at Off Site series of concerts. Both these concert series were crucially important in exposing a new manner to improvised music (referred to as Electro Acoustic Improvisation) to the Japanese public and to foreign musicians visiting Japan, making Tokyo one of the global hotspots for this new approach to music.
Tetuzi Akiyama
https://besompresse.bandcamp.com/album/thaumaturgy
Tetuzi Akiyama (Akiyama Tetsuji) (born 1964) is a Japanese guitarist, violinist, and instrument-maker.
Akiyama specializes in creating music with elements of both primitivism and realism by connecting his own aspirations, in a minimal and straightforward way, to the special instrumental qualities of the guitar. Sometimes delicately and sometimes boldly, he controls sound volumes ranging from micro to macro, in an attempt to convert the body into an electronic entity.
Akiyama formed the improvisation group Madhar in 1987, and the classical ensemble Hikyo String Quintet in 1994 (which also included Taku Sugimoto on cello). In 1995, Akiyama and Sugimoto formed a guitar duo, and played at venues in New York City, Chicago, and Detroit. During this time, Akiyama was also a member of Keiji Haino's Nijiumu outfit. Akiyama also formed Sutekina Tea Time (a duo with Takashi Matsuoka) and Mongoose (a trio with Taku Sugimoto and Utah Kawasaki).
In 1998 Akiyama began organising a monthly concert series,[1] The Improvisation Meeting, with Toshimaru Nakamura. In December 2006 he began a regular duo with Hervé Boghossian (France), they toured in Europe (France, Portugal, Switzerland, England) several times in 2007 (in May, October and December) and also played in Tokyo during Hervé Boghossian Japanese tour in August/September 2008. In 2009 he worked with David Sylvian.
Michael Hartman
https://kuronekomusic.bandcamp.com
Michael Hartman is an improviser and composer currently living in Chicago, USA. He has released and performed music as a solo artist, in various collaborative efforts, and as a member of Superposition, TV Pow, Boris Hauf’s Next Delusion, Bed, Solt, 7000 Dying Rats, and The Father Costume. Hartman has appeared on over 50 releases and was a founding partner of the now completed record labels, Gentle Giant Records and Kuro Neko Music.
Influenced by everything from American country music and international techno to the sounds of his urban environment Hartman explores and embraces future electronics, free music, soundscapes and contemporary compositions. His portfolio includes recorded works, sound installations, music for dance, and live performances that utilize synthesizers, samplers, drums and percussion, electronics, traditional instruments and surround sound speaker systems. Hartman has performed and recorded throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan.